Meditation Pond “Before”
What do you do when you have a 2′ x 2′ hole in the concrete slab of your back patio area? Previously a tree of some kind grew here but as you can see in this before picture the only thing growing when we took ownership of the space was a jungle of weeds and grass.
I opted to pull up all of the grass and create a wee patio pond using some inexpensive materials:
- a small pond liner
- solar water pump with fountain nozzle attachments
- bag of sand
- bricks
And of course lots of elbow-grease!
Here’s the progression of my pond project:
I spent mornings removing the plants, composting the weeds and replanting the grasses to another area of the yard, and digging out the soil until I reached a depth of 18 inches.
Meditation Pond Progress
When I reached my final depth I smoothed out the soil and added a bag of sand to cushion and protect the pond liner. I filled it with water and headed over to Hill Country Water Gardens in Cedar Park for some plants. With the help of a friendly staff person I chose three plants:
- Dwarf Papyrus (Cyperus haspens)
- Water Poppy (Hydrocleys nymphoides)
- Thalia (Thalia dealbata)
Adding Plants
It’s been a month since I set up my Meditation Pond and this is what it looks like now:
I anchor my day at both ends out by this little pond – morning tea meditations and musings, and evening unwind meditations and musings. The pond has attracted blue damselflies, a fleet of dragonflies (including a stunning red dragonfly the size of a small aircraft carrier), a few monarchs, honey bees, and a handful of beetles. To prevent a mosquito apocalypse I added a red beta fish who loves the warm water, smallness of the pond, doesn’t mind that the solar pump runs only a handful of hours out of the day, and gobbles up mosquito larvae. We’ve nicknamed him Big Red.
This is my second time with a patio pond. My first attempt, back in Massachusetts, was in a fiberglass pot next to the rain barrel.
What anchors do you use for meditation?
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